tonight, the abc news exclusive. my interview a short time ago at the white house, one-on-one with president biden on the war in ukraine, now one year into this war. the president tonight on russia, china, and issues here at home. the ohio train derailment. is the president running for re-election? and is age a legitimate consideration? the president just back from ukraine and poland after addressing allies on the world stage. tonight, what the president told me about f-16s. will the u.s. send them to ukraine? what does the president make of china's new peace plan? and we ask about concerns that china could be considering offering lethal assistance, weapons for russia in this fight. we also press the president on issues here at home, the chinese spy balloon. why didn't china take the pentagon's call?

the toxic train derailment in east palestine, ohio. his administration's response to the disaster. the classified documents found at biden's home and his former office. and of course that question -- is the president running for re-election? also tonight, president zelenskyy marking one year at war, defiantly claiming ukraine's victory will be inevitable, saying he wants to meet with china's president xi. and we'll go to ian pannell in kyiv tonight for reaction after what president biden said this evening about f-16s. the other news this friday night, one-time prominent attorney alex murdaugh testifying in his own defense. what he acknowledged on the stand. we're also tracking the major storm. a second one now set to move right across the country. heavy snow, ice, and dangerous winds. and yet another close call tonight. a passenger plane about to land. another plane cleared for takeoff on the same runway. and one year later, from new york to paris tonight, the powerful images coming in that speak volumes about this day.

and good evening tonight from washington, where we just sat down with president biden at the white house a short time ago. the interview comes at a pivotal moment in the war in ukraine. one year ago today, the russians invaded ukraine and this long, deadly war began. we ask the president tonight, how does this war end? will the president send f-16s? what does he make of this new chinese peace plan floated overnight? his answer on that was very telling. and we ask about the growing concern that china could be considering offering lethal support, weapons to russia to help fight ukraine. tonight's interview here comes after the president's secret and historic visit early this week to kyiv, to stand with president zelensky on the streets of the capital, even as air raid sirens sounded across the city. and after the president's speech in warsaw, defending democracy and vowing to stand with ukraine. his interview in warsaw with us,

reacting to vladimir putin. now back in washington, our interview late today, this time at the white house. tonight we ask about ukraine, russia, china, and we also press on issues here at home, the ohio train derailment. and we ask, is the president running for re-election? and is his age relevant? but we begin tonight with ukraine, now one year into this war. mr. president, you know as we sit here today, it was one year ago today, the russian invasion of ukraine. you said in warsaw that ukraine will never be a victory for russia, so how does this war end and what does victory look like? >> well, that depends what the ukrainians decide. here's what we have to do in the meantime. we have to put the ukrainians in a position where they can make advances this spring and summer and move to a place where they can negotiate from a position of strength. but you know that expression

you heard me use before and others -- nothing about ukraine without ukraine. we're not going to dictate to them what the end result is. >> when you talk about them negotiating, does that mean they get to keep crimea and parts of the east? >> that means they decide that. they, the ukrainians, decide that. but i could picture a circumstance where there's a transition to that. it's not all one time. look, a year ago today, they were only 70 kilometers from the border where russians expected to come rolling down into kyiv and own it all. they got pushed back. it didn't happen. and i think they underestimated a great deal, the russians did. >> you announced another $2.5 billion in aid to ukraine today. $113 billion now. we know the vast majority of americans support ukraine, but there are many who are asking, how long can we spend like this? >> first of all, i'm not sure how many are asking that. i know the maga crowd is. the right-wing republicans are talking about, we can't do this.

we find ourselves in a situation where the cost of walking away could be considerably higher than the cost of helping ukraine maintain its independence. >> we know the germans are sending tanks after the u.s. said it would send abrams tanks as well, but we know what president zelenskyy continues to say what we really needs are f-16s. will you send f-16s? >> look, we're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. he needs tanks, he needs artillery, he needs air defense, including himars. there's things we're sending him to put him in a position to make gains this spring and summer going into the fall. >> you don't think he needs f-16s now? >> no, he doesn't need f-16s now. >> is that a never? >> look, first of all, the idea that we know exactly what's going to be needed a year or

two, three from now, but there is no basis upon which there is a rationale according to our military now to provide f-16s. >> but you're not ruling it out. >> i am ruling it out for now. >> for now. vladimir putin told the russian people this week that china's president xi is coming to russia, likely as early as this spring. i know the state department and the pentagon now have both warned china not to offer lethal military assistance to russia in this war with ukraine, saying the u.s. is concerned china is considering providing lethal support to russia. would that cross a line for you? >> look, i had a very frank conversation with president xi this past summer on this issue, and i pointed out to him -- the conversation went like this. i said, mr. president, this is not a threat, it's an assertion, a statement what i think the reality is. you saw what happened when the rest of the world, europe in

particular, saw the brutality of what putin was doing in ukraine to the ukrainians from russia. and i said, without any government prodding, 600 american corporations left russia, from mcdonald's to exxon to -- across the board. and i said, if you are engaged in the same kind of brutality by supporting the brutality that's going on, i said, you may face the same consequence. i don't anticipate -- we haven't seen it yet, but i don't anticipate a major initiative on the part of china providing weaponry to -- to russia. >> but if they did, would that be crossing a line for you, mr. president? >> it would be the same line everyone else would have crossed. in other words, we'd impose severe sanctions on anyone who has done that. >> so there would be severe consequences. >> i'll let you characterize what they would be. we would respond. >> i ask you all of this because there's a new report in a german

newspaper that the russian military could be negotiating right now with a chinese drone manufacturer to produce kamikaze drones for russia. are you aware of this? is u.s. intelligence tracking this? >> u.s. intelligence is aware of everything that's going on in this area, but i'm not going to confirm specifically what u.s. intelligence has found out or not found out. >> what do you make of this chinese peace plan floated overnight that putin is applauding today? >> i think you answered the question. putin is applauding it, so how could it be any good? i'm not being facetious. i'm being deadly earnest. i've seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than russia if the chinese plan were followed. the idea that china is going to be negotiating the outcome of a war that's a totally unjust war for ukraine is just not rational.

>> let me ask about u.s.-china relations in general, already strained after the chinese spy balloon over the u.s. let me just ask you this first -- do we know definitively yet whether or not that spy balloon was flying over the continental u.s. intentionally? >> it is almost not relevant once it was over the united states. >> so there's a possibility president xi didn't know. >> there is a possibility of that. >> were they surveilling the u.s. or attempting to? >> that's what that balloon does, surveillance. >> let me ask you, when the balloon was shot down off south carolina, the defense secretary placed a call to his chinese counterpart on a line that's supposed to always be open. the chinese did not take the call. they didn't pick up the phone. does that trouble you? >> yes. there should be a direct open line of communications, particularly from two most powerful nations in the world to be able to resolve anything quickly so there's not a mistake made. >> the defense secretary says they still haven't had that call.

how does the u.s., how does your administration fix this? >> we make it clear that it's necessary for that to occur. we can't fix it. >> i want to ask you about a couple of issues here at home. it's been three weeks now since the toxic train derailment in east palestine, ohio, as you know. the mayor says he saw you in ukraine, and he says, it tells you he doesn't care about us. they're asking, is the president coming to ohio? do you have any plan to travel to ohio, and have you talked with the mayor yet? >> let's put this in perspective. within two hours of that derailment, the epa was in there, within two hours. every major agency in the united states government that had anything to do with rail and/or cleanup was there and is there. in addition to that, i've spoken at length to the congresspersons, the governors, the senators from both states of

pennsylvania and -- and ohio, and i've made it clear to them anything they need is available or will make it available. whatever happens, you've got to understand, it's the responsibility of the railroad company who's made, by the way, tens of billions of dollars in profits. tens of billions of dollars in profits lately. >> so do you plan to travel there and have you talked to the mayor? >> i can't recall. i don't think i've talked to the mayor there. i've talked to both the senators, both governors, everyone there is to talk to, and we made it clear that everything is available. >> let me ask you the question everyone is asking -- are you running? >> well, apparently someone interviewed my wife today i heard. >> i heard that, too, just before i came in. >> i got to call her and find out. no, all kidding aside. my intention from the beginning has been from the beginning to run, but there's too many other things i have to finish in the near term before i start a campaign. >> you brought up your wife, jill biden, traveling in kenya.

she was asked today, is all that's left at this point simply setting a time and place for the announcement? and she said pretty much. [ laughter ] >> do you agree with your wife's assessment? >> god love her. yeah. look, i meant what i said. i've got other things to finish before i get into a full-blown campaign. >> let me ask you about a conversation people are having at home. both your supporters and critics know if you're re-elected you would be 82 when sworn in, 86 at the end of your term. is your age part of your own calculation whether to run again? >> no, but it's legitimate for people to raise questions about my age. totally legitimate to do that. the only thing i can say is watch me. >> let me ask you one of the immediate questions. if and when you do announce you're running again, you and the former president are now under investigation by the justice department for the discovery of these classified documents. i know you believe these two cases are very different, but i

do remember something you said after the discovery at mar-a-lago. you said, i thought data that was in there may compromise sources and methods and names of people who help, and it's just totally irresponsible. can you assure the american people that none of the documents discovered in your garage or at your old office compromised sources or methods or u.s. intelligence? >> i have been advised by the counsel, let the justice department make that decision, to not try to alter the case in any way. there have been very few documents that have been confiscated, found in my possession that are in -- other than -- in my possession, meaning in my home. all the stuff that was moved out of my senate office over the years, i'm told there were a couple of things from 1973 or '74, documents marked classified. i don't know of anything -- maybe -- i don't know of anything that is marked like it

was, top secret, highly, et cetera. but i'm told not to comment on that, because i don't even know what they were able to -- what they confiscated. >> there are many who will understand why you can't comment, why your lawyers are saying not to comment. they also saw you, though, comment on former president trump, so at the very least -- >> because they were showing -- you guys were showing on television things lying on the ground that said top secret, national -- you know, code word. and the difference is, every single solitary thing i have been asked to do, i've done voluntarily. i've invited the justice department to come into every aspect of any place that i had any control over. there was no need for search warrants, no need -- what you do need? just come. whatever you want. whatever you want, wherever you want to go, you can go. that was totally different. >> but that one word you used, when you hear about boxes in your garage or old office, you called the trump discovery irresponsible. is there something irresponsible

here, though, too? >> you know, you're a good lawyer, but you're trying to make a comparison. there's degrees of irresponsibility. they can be significant degrees of irresponsibility. the way in which the boxes were packed up from my office, apparently not everything was gone through as meticulously as it should have, but there was no intention -- i opened up my home, all my homes -- the home at the beach and the home that i -- my permanent home, and they spent hours and hours going through everything, personal -- everything i had. that's a fundamentally different thing. there's nothing for me to hide. >> the president telling me he has nothing to hide on those classified documents and again saying he intends to run. as you saw, he was well aware the first lady jill biden said today in kenya when asked, is it all about setting a time and place for the announcement?

she said, pretty much. there was one more moment with our interview in warsaw with the president about that secret train trip into kyiv. the world watched this surprise visit to kyiv. how risky was it for a sitting president of the united states ? >> i didn't think it was that risky. >> you like a train. >> not 20 hours' worth, though. >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> with those air sirens, those air raid sirens overhead in kyiv, how important was it the world saw you standing next to president zelenskyy? >> well, look, i think that's for -- i'm not being facetious -- folks like you to decide how important that is. it was important to me to stand with zelenskyy and let the year know on a one-year anniversary we're not walking away from ukraine. >> we'll have much more with the president on "nightline" and sunday on abc's "this week." i want to bring in ian pannell. you heard what president said about the f-16s, ukraine, and

president zelenskyy's wish for f-16s, saying he doesn't need them. you also heard about china's new peace plan, saying the idea that china would negotiate an end to this war is just not rational. >> reporter: firstly on the news about the f-16s, i think that's gointo be disappointing for ukraine, if not entirely surprising to hear. i think what they need, as the president told you, are longer range weapons and the tanks. remember, britain and a handful of european allies are ready to provide some kind of training and perhaps jets further down the line. meanwhile, as you say, zelenskyy talking about that possible meeting with president xi of china, saying he's certainly ready to meet him and called the china peace plan not a bad thing, but he wasn't overly optimistic about it. i asked zelenskyy about the other issue, the waning u.s. support for the war. he thanked americans and warned any withdrawal of u.s. support would be dangerous and could give putin the green light to move into some nato countries, which would drag america into a

much bigger war. david? >> our chief foreign correspondent ian pannell on this one-year anniversary of the war. thank you. when we come back, news about yet another close call at an airport. a passenger plane about to land, another plane had been cleared for takeoff on the same runway. where it happened this time. my wife's name is joy. we've been married 45 years. i'm taking a two-year business course. i've been studying a lot. i've been producing and directing for over 50 years. it's a very detailed thing and the pressure's all on me. i noticed i really wasn't quite as sharp as i was. my boss told me about prevagen and i started taking it. i feel sharper. my memory's a lot better. it just works. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. i've always loved building things. not just structures and skyscrapers, but teams who make it all possible. after all... we wouldn't be where we are today without them.

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states. let's get right to meteorologist rob marciano. >> reporter: david, this historic storm will continue to bring blizzard conditions to southern california. you see it all in the red. some of these counties have never seen this stuff before. heavy plume of moisture moves from santa barbara to san diego by tomorrow morning. that's when we can see flooding and snow levels will continue to be low and historic snow amounts. quickly into the northeast monday night to tuesday. wintry mix for new york, but likely accumulating snow in new england. david? >> rob marciano with us tonight. rob, thank you. when we come back here, from new york city to paris, the very powerful images coming in tonight. they speak volumes about this night.

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before we go tonight, as the war in ukraine begins a second year, images tonight of the world showing solidarity with ukraine. the empire state building in new york city lit up in blue and yellow, of course the colors of the ukrainian flag. tke a look in paris. the eiffel tower in blue and yellow as well. and in australia tonight, the famed sydney opera house playing tribute to the people of ukraine. i'm david muir. thank you for watching this week from warsaw to washington. i'll see you monday. good night. washington. i'll see you monday. good night.

>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> bay area. snowcapped hills are what we get for it during the stormy weather. dan: snow, rain, temperatures, what a week for the bay area. we have hardly had the balmy conditions that we know and love . >> right now we can see snow on the east bay hills camera as well as the one on top of mount tam. looks frigid. dan: and snow was falling all over the bay area and we sent reporters out to capture all of it. >> but before that let's go to sandhya to see what's next in the weather. sandhya: we are going to be seeing more of the snow and more of the showers. this is a live view from our mountain cam, where it's covered

in snow. as we check out live doppler a quiet picture right now. you can see the snow that was falling over mount hamilton. lake observatory got the higher totals, i will show you those in a moment. light showers if you are headed home and across the nights and area. that area of low pressure dropping southward along the coast and moving into southern california. clearly much of california and southern california dealing with wet weather and the sierra getting snow. showers and snow showers picking up in the coverage as we head towards 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, a wintry mix winding down quickly by noontime. checking out the snow totals, mount hamilton, 14 inches. 10 to 12 in calistoga. st. helena, eight. the snow level between 700 to